New Brunswick
The 1904 station building as seen from Albany Street
General information
Location1 Railroad Plaza
New Brunswick, New Jersey
United States
Owned byNew Jersey Transit
Line(s)Amtrak Northeast Corridor
Platforms2 side platforms
Tracks4
Connections
Construction
AccessibleYes
Other information
Station codeAmtrak: NBK
Fare zone14 (NJT)[4]
History
OpenedJanuary 1, 1838[5]
RebuiltOctober 1903[6]–September 28, 1904[7]
ElectrifiedDecember 8, 1932[8]
Passengers
20124,976 (avg. weekday) [9] (NJT)
FY 202221,937 annually[10] (Amtrak)
Services
Preceding station Amtrak Following station
Princeton Junction
toward Harrisburg
 Keystone Service
Limited service
 Metropark
toward New York
Princeton Junction
toward Norfolk, Newport News or Roanoke
 Northeast Regional Metropark
toward Boston South or Springfield
     Acela does not stop here
     Cardinal does not stop here
     Carolinian does not stop here
     Crescent does not stop here
     Palmetto does not stop here
     Pennsylvanian does not stop here
     Silver Meteor does not stop here
     Silver Star does not stop here
     Vermonter does not stop here
Preceding station NJ Transit Following station
Jersey Avenue
weekdays
toward Trenton
 Northeast Corridor Line Edison
toward New York
Former services
Preceding station Pennsylvania Railroad Following station
Adams
toward Chicago
 Main Line Edison
toward New York or Exchange Place
Terminus New Brunswick Line
Jersey Avenue
opened 1963
Terminus
Voorhees
toward East Millstone
 Millstone Branch Terminus
New Brunswick Station
New Brunswick station in May 1985
Coordinates40°29′47″N 74°26′47″W / 40.49639°N 74.44639°W / 40.49639; -74.44639
Area0.5 acres (0.20 ha)
Built1903 (1903)
ArchitectWilliam H. Brown, chief engineer of the Pennsylvania Railroad[11]
Architectural styleColonial Revival, Georgian Revival
MPSOperating Passenger Railroad Stations TR
NRHP reference No.84002732[12]
NJRHP No.1875 [13]
Significant dates
Added to NRHPJune 22, 1984
Designated NJRHPMarch 17, 1984

New Brunswick is an active commuter railroad train station in the city of New Brunswick, Middlesex County, New Jersey. The station services trains of New Jersey Transit's Northeast Corridor Line and Amtrak's Keystone Service and Northeast Regional. For New Jersey Transit trains, the next station to the southwest (towards Trenton Transit Center) is Jersey Avenue, while the next station to the northeast (towards New York Penn Station) is Edison. For Amtrak services, the next station southwest is Princeton Junction, the next station to the northeast is Metropark. The station consists of two handicap-accessible side platforms surrounding the four tracks.

Railroad service in New Brunswick began on January 1, 1838 with the extension of the New Jersey Railroad from East Brunswick (modern-day Highland Park) over the Raritan River. Construction of the current station depot at the junction of Albany and French Streets (State Route 27) and Easton Avenue (County Route 527) began in October 1903, opening on September 28, 1904 for the Pennsylvania Railroad.

Service

Black and white photo of train station at nightfall.
New Brunswick station looking north from nearby parking garage. Northeast Corridor and train platforms visible, left.

The station has two high-level side platforms serving the outer tracks of the four-track Northeast Corridor.

NJ Transit's Northeast Corridor Line calls at the station. Most of Amtrak's Northeast Corridor services bypass the station via the inner tracks, except for select Keystone Service and Northeast Regional trains.[14] The Northbound Crescent stopped here from November 24, 2022 to July 4, 2023.[15][16]

History

Train service to New Brunswick was begun by the New Jersey Railroad, northbound in 1838 and southbound in 1839. Its successor, Pennsylvania Railroad, built the current station in 1903 when the tracks were raised above street level.[17] Service was eventually taken over by Penn Central and then Amtrak and New Jersey Transit. In 2005, the Clocker trains, a popular commuter service serving the station, were transferred to NJT. In October 2015 the southbound Palmetto began stopping here.

The depot was designed in the Colonial Revival style and includes walls of light brown brick, hipped roof with gabled dormers and a deep cornice with dentil molding at its base. Brick quoins at the corners of the building convey an impression of strength and solidity. Windows display a popular Georgian Revival pattern of 9-over-1. Sills are incorporated into a stone belt course that wraps around the building, while lintels are embellished with prominent keystones.[18] The design is similar to that of the Chester Transportation Center in Pennsylvania.

The station building was listed on the New Jersey Register of Historic Places and National Register of Historic Places since 1984, and is part of the Operating Passenger Railroad Stations Thematic Resource.[19][20]

New Brunswick station in 1910

Urban transit hub

In 2005 the station was designated the core of the New Brunswick transit village, a smart growth initiative to promote transit-oriented development which can include government incentives to encourage compact, higher density, mixed-use development within walking distance of the station.[21][22]

In addition to New Jersey Transit bus operations and Rutgers Campus buses, the station is served by local shuttles known as Brunsquick and DASH. Studies are underway to develop the New Brunswick Bus Rapid Transit system, of which the station would be the hub. NJ 18 and NJ 27, which intersect at the station, would function as the two major corridors for a bus network that would connect downtown, residential neighborhoods, the five campuses of Rutgers in the city and Piscataway, and nearby communities.[23][24]

New Brunswick is one of nine cities in New Jersey designated as eligible for Urban Transit Hub Tax Credits by the state's Economic Development Authority.[25] Developers who invest a minimum of $50 million within 0.5 miles (0.80 km) of a train station are eligible for pro-rated tax credit.[26][27] The Gateway is one such project located just to the north of station[28] and connected by a new pedestrian bridge, creating a direct link to the Rutgers campus.[29][30][31] It is the tallest building in the city[32] and one of several new projects in the vicinity of the station that has led to a revitalization of the city's downtown surrounding it.[30][31] Another planned building, a 16-story residential tower at Somerset Street[33][34] located one block north of the station, is the second UTHTC-approved project in the city.[35]

High-speed rail corridor

In August 2011 the United States Department of Transportation obligated $450 million to a six-year project to improve 24 miles (39 km) of the Northeast Corridor between New Brunswick and Trenton. The Next Generation High-Speed project is to upgrade electrical power, signals, and overhead catenary wires to improve reliability and increase speed to 160 mph (260 km/h), and with new trains to 186 mph (299 km/h).[36]

Renovation and upgrades

In 2019 Amtrak earmarked funds for improvement at the station. NJ Transit allocated $49 million in September 2022 for renovation and upgrades of the station.[37] On October 13, 2023, Amtrak announced New Brunswick station, along with Princeton Junction, would receive upgraded service due to increased demand.[38]

See also

Bibliography

  • Wall, John Patrick (1921). History of Middlesex County, New Jersey, 1664-1920, Volume 1. Lewis Historical Publishing Company.

References

  1. ↑ "Campus Buses". Rutgers University. Retrieved April 3, 2012.
  2. ↑ "Middlesex County Area Transit (MCAT) Shuttle Routes". Middlesex County. 2012. Archived from the original on March 20, 2012. Retrieved April 1, 2012.
  3. ↑ "Dash 1 and Dash 2". Ridewise. Retrieved May 5, 2012.
  4. ↑ "Northeast Corridor Timetables" (PDF). Newark, New Jersey: New Jersey Transit Rail Operations. November 7, 2010. Retrieved November 27, 2010.
  5. ↑ Wall 1921, p. 295.
  6. ↑ "Contract Out for P.R.R. Station". The Daily Home News. September 15, 1803. p. 1. Retrieved June 3, 2018 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  7. ↑ "Pennsylvania R.R. Station Thrown Open To-Day". The Daily Home News. September 28, 1904. p. 1. Retrieved May 21, 2018 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  8. ↑ "Electric Train Service Started by P.R.R. Today". The Daily Home News. New Brunswick, New Jersey. December 8, 1932. pp. 1, 11. Retrieved January 31, 2021 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  9. ↑ "QUARTERLY RIDERSHIP TRENDS ANALYSIS" (PDF). New Jersey Transit. December 27, 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 19, 2013. Retrieved December 27, 2012.
  10. ↑ "Amtrak Fact Sheet, Fiscal Year 2022: State of New Jersey" (PDF). Amtrak. June 2023. Retrieved August 30, 2023.
  11. ↑ Kafka–Holzschlag, Morris J.; Gehlert, Suzanne L. (2012). "New Brunswick and Transportation". Journal of the Rutgers University Libraries. Rutgers University.
  12. ↑ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  13. ↑ "New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places - Middlesex County" (PDF). New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection - Historic Preservation Office. November 22, 2013. p. 6. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 7, 2014.
  14. ↑ "Amtrak - Service Alert". Archived from the original on November 6, 2015. Retrieved November 6, 2015.
  15. ↑ "AMTRAK'S CRESCENT" (PDF). Rail Passenger's Association. July 4, 2023.
  16. ↑ "AMTRAK'S CRESCENT" (PDF). Rail Passenger's Association. December 7, 2022.
  17. ↑ "New Brunswick, NJ (NBK)". Great American Train Stations. Archived from the original on November 29, 2014. Retrieved May 16, 2012.
  18. ↑ "New Brunswick Station". Amtrak's Great American Stations. Archived from the original on November 29, 2014. Retrieved November 18, 2014.
  19. ↑ "New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places". New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection - Historic Preservation Office. Retrieved January 7, 2015.
  20. ↑ New Brunswick New Jersey Transit Railroad Station Survey
  21. ↑ "West Windsor gains Transit Village designation Township becomes 24th Transit Village in New Jersey". NJDOT. January 5, 2012. Retrieved May 25, 2012.
  22. ↑ "Vanguard of New Brunswick's Transit-Oriented Revitalization". New Jersey Future.
  23. ↑ "Greater New Brunswick Are Bus Rapid Transit" (PDF). NJTPA. May 2008. Retrieved April 4, 2012.
  24. ↑ "A New Face of TOD: Bus Rapid Transit". Voorhees Transportation Institute. January 2008. Archived from the original on May 2, 2012. Retrieved April 4, 2012.
  25. ↑ Urban Transit Hub Tax Credit Program, New Jersey Economic Development Authority. Accessed April 24, 2023. "Urban Transit Hubs are located within ½ mile of New Jersey Transit, PATH, PATCO, or light rail stations in Camden (expanded to one mile), East Orange, Elizabeth, Hoboken, Jersey City, Newark, New Brunswick, Paterson, and Trenton."
  26. ↑ "Urban Transit Hub Tax Credits". Financing Programs. New Jersey Economic Development Authority. Archived from the original on April 14, 2012. Retrieved May 16, 2012.
  27. ↑ "Middlesex County: New Brunswick" (PDF). Urban Transit Hub Tax Credits. New Jersey Economic Development Authority. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 4, 2012. Retrieved May 16, 2012.
  28. ↑ "Mixed Use The Gateway". Devco. Archived from the original on April 20, 2012. Retrieved May 16, 2012.
  29. ↑ Whitley, Brian (October 22, 2009). "Project to bridge New Brunswick train station to Rutgers University clears legal hurdle". The Star-Leger. Retrieved May 16, 2012.
  30. 1 2 Miller, Paige (May 7, 2012). "In New Brunswick, one development tackles multiple community needs". Smart Growth America. Archived from the original on June 11, 2012. Retrieved May 16, 2012.
  31. 1 2 Cahill, Jim (March 2012). "New Development Brings Wellness, Fitness, & Happiness" (PDF). New Jersey Municipalities. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 7, 2012. Retrieved May 16, 2012.
  32. ↑ "New Brunswick", Emporis, archived from the original on November 11, 2012, retrieved May 15, 2012
  33. ↑ "135 Somerset". New Brunswick buildings. Emporis. Archived from the original on November 11, 2012. Retrieved May 16, 2012.
  34. ↑ "Somerset". Boraie LLC. Archived from the original on April 23, 2012. Retrieved May 16, 2012.
  35. ↑ Haydon, Tom (March 25, 2012). "16 story building to rise in New Brunswick". The Star-Ledger. Retrieved May 16, 2012.
  36. ↑ Schned, Dan (August 24, 2011). "U.S. DOT Obligates $745 Million to Northeast Corridor Rail Projects". America 2050. Archived from the original on February 20, 2012. Retrieved November 24, 2011.
  37. ↑ "'Hub City' train station to get $49M upgrade. Murphy says it will be a 'point of pride.'". September 24, 2022.
  38. ↑ "Amtrak Adds More Service for Customers at New Brunswick and Princeton Junction" (Press release). Amtrak. October 13, 2023. Retrieved October 14, 2023.
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